(Portland, Ore.)—On April 4, Lewis & Clark hosted Indigenous Economic Development: Sustainability, Culture and Business, a conference for professionals and leaders from the economic development and legal communities. Economic development for Indian tribes and their citizens is one of the most important topics in Indian law and policy today. Indian gaming gets all the headlines but the grinding poverty and lack of economic activity on reservations is a fact of life for almost all American Indians and their governments.

The conference brought together scholars from around the country, most of whom are tribal citizens and experienced in economic development, to discuss both the practical and the theoretical issues facing American Indian governments in their task to bring sustainable and culturally appropriate economic development to their reservations.